ZASSHI JOUHOU GO! This section of Gaming Life in Japan takes a look at what's big in the latest issues of Japan's game magazines. From Famitsu to Dengeki to smaller publications like Dori Maga, Japan has lots of videogame magazines. While we tend to put up all the news and game information revealed in the magazines on the main pages of IGN, this section gives you a closer look just so you can be sure you're not missing out on anything.

FAMITSU 817

It's rare for videogame products to make us shy (except for Xbox games -- ha ha ha ha ha), but this week's Famitsu managed to do it. Thanks to a cover featuring former Gaming Life in Japan young idol Yin Ling of Joytoy and an haphazardly placed arrow pointing right to her sweet spot, we were more than embarrassed when the magazine fell out from our bags and into public view while riding the train.

Outside of Yin Ling (who can be seen up close and personal in this week's Young Idol section), Famitsu has just a tiny bit of interest as far as new info is concerned. The magazine's hot spot is given to, believe it or not, Electronic Arts' "Hot Summer Night" event, with eight pages of coverage of all the games that the main IGN channels covered last week. We're not sure how many people in Japan are interested in NBA Live and Madden, but Famitsu actually bunched these sports games into one page, giving more coverage to Need for Speed, Lord of the Rings and Golden Eye.

Also featured in the issue are the first ever Famitsu Awards (this is the first we've ever seen, at least). The magazine regularly has big sales features in the middle and end of the year in which it lists the top 100 titles and gives other fun figures for game companies and hardware. For this week's Famitsu Awards feature, the magazine took a more editorial approach, allowing its group of 65 editors (51 male, 14 female) to vote on their favorite games from the first half of the year.

Voting worked as follows. Each editor was given 20 points which they could distribute to as many as five titles. Titles eligible for voting include the 351 games released between 1/1/2004 and 6/30/2004. Any editor who voted for a D3 Publisher title was branded a communist and fired. Okay, we made up that last part.

Voting was held in a number of categories. Here are the categories and the games that Famitsu's reviewers selected.

You may be a bit skeptical about some of the winners. Ninja Gaiden beaten by Dragon Quest V in visuals? Gyakuten Saiban 3 placing for best idea despite being a sequel? Actually, the categories are a bit different from what their names may suggest. For best graphics, Famitsu was looking not just at the technical side of things, but design as well. Best idea includes design as well as just a novel idea. Best game balance includes control in addition to things like balanced character raising and just having a good feeling game.

In addition to these categories, Famitsu also picked a few "Most Valuables." Taking the MVP (Most Valuable Person) award was Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto. The MVM (Most Valuable Maker) award was tied between Capcom and Nintendo. Finally, the MVC (Most Valuable Character) award was tied between Mario and Pikmin.

This week's list of reviews drops by one from last week, leaving us with only 20 titles to choose from when we go game shopping on Thursday. Aww shucks!

As usual, we'll be picking up lots of these games for coverage later on this week. Stay tuned for more on the main IGN channels.

FAMITSU XBOX - 09.04

Famitsu Xbox features a very pinkish color for its September issue. This seems to continue the Japanese trend of unpopular systems getting fruity magazine covers.

Dead or Alive Ultimate takes the cover honors for this month's issue. Inside the issue is info on DOA's Japanese release along with a first look at the new Digital Venus bonus disk. The magazine has four pages of game coverage, mostly focusing on pictures of the female cast. Also included is the third of four mini standees that allow readers to erect their favorite DOA babes in their home.

Plus, a look at the first half of the year in review, Xbox style! The magazine has a listing of the top twenty games for the first half of the year. Since you don't usually see sales numbers for Xbox games, this list is somewhat interesting.

The magazine also asked retailers and readers for their opinion on the biggest news stories for the first half of the year. Of course, both parties were most concerned with the cancellation of True Fantasy Live Online. This was followed by the delay of Dead or Alive Ultimate.

The back section of the magazine includes the latest Xbox Live English lesson section, where readers are taught such phrases as "Hey, how's it going" and "I think I need more practice." Longer phrases include "So William it seems you've been practicing a lot. You totally kicked my butt! How long have you been playing this game?" and "Oops, sorry. I did not mean that. I will be careful next time." This month's helpful phrase is "It's kind of getting late here, so I think I'll drop out now." Next time you're on Xbox Live, see if you can find someone using these phrases and try your best to make fun of them.

Just three reviews in this issue reflecting the fact that... well, there aren't too many games coming out for Xbox. Here are the scores.